TaskPaper 1.0 adds new features (and "fiddling" isn't one of them)

Hog Bay Software's TaskPaper was recently released in a completed 1.0 version (previously), and if you're the sort of person who casts about for a simple way to manage projects and tasks from a Mac, this just may be your app.

But, even more significantly, if you're not looking for a simple action management system -- if you're that particularly pathetic sort of character who's convinced that features like tagging, syncing, collaboration, graph paper generation, and the introduction of an onboard artisanal breadmaker are all that stands between you and getting your stuff done -- well, you may need TaskPaper more than anybody. Because, friends, TaskPaper is just about fiddle-proof, and, frankly, I know a lot of people who could benefit from that today.

So, first off and best off, TaskPaper is just text. Although documents created with TaskPaper will have the ".taskpaper" suffix, you'll find that you can open and edit the file with TextEdit, TextMate, or any other garden variety text app. Here's what my test document looks like when opened in TextMate:

I like the clarity and simplicity of the document's formatting, and how it virtually negates the ability to fiddle. Actually, on first glance, the magic of TaskPaper may look familiar to people who have used syntaxes like Chairman Gruber's peerless Markdown. I mean it really is just endlessly portable and mungeable text; it's TaskPaper's li'l engine that turns that formatting into the hooks that let you "do stuff" like view by context or project, and so on. This latest cut adds tabs for doing this neato functional stuff, and I have to say it's really appealing. The approach is similar to OmniFocus -- but even more obsessively concerned with keeping the system focused solely on completing tasks (rather than grooming and feeding them for months while they grow long hair and learn how to drive a stick).

Yes: absolutely -- TaskPaper will be way too simple for a lot of people's needs (including mine). But, if you're so overwhelmed with "flexibility" that you're getting close to throwing in the towel on an electronic system and are considering going back to paper, (while I'd never be one to stand in your way) you might want to give TaskPaper a whirl. If you love text and could benefit from the portability of a simple electronic document, it's definitely worth looking at.

TaskPaper is free to try, and it'll only set you back $18.95 if you decide to buy a copy. Download 'er now.

First off, let me say that I just started using it at work yesterday, so this is all very preliminary.

Previously, I had been using a simple .txt file to track my tasks at work. I used Notepad++ (specifically, the PortableApps.com version) to edit it, mostly because it seemed to be a lot like TextMate in some ways.

Yesterday, I changed the extension of this file to .taskpaper and told Windows to use Notepad++ to open .taskpaper files. I then modified the contents of the file using TaskPaper's scheme (":" after projects, "- " before tasks, "@" for tags).

Today, I discovered the utility of Notepad++'s macro recording functions. Specifically, I recorded a macro that appends "@done" to the end of a task with a press of Ctrl-D. (This is very close to TaskPaper's Cmd-D for the same.)

Honestly, that's all I've gotten around to so far. I plan to investigate Notepad++ further to see if there is any way to teach it to mimic other TaskPaper functions (cross out completed tasks, for example), when I have the time.

Long story short, TaskPaper has already been a big boon for my productivity.

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